


Lance, Building Bridges

by Darkfyyre



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 15:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9767483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkfyyre/pseuds/Darkfyyre
Summary: The truth of Keith’s Galra heritage is difficult to swallow to say the least. Keith struggles with the varied reactions of the others, but there is one among them who has a very different take on the situation.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written to the saddest music available to me, so for the best reading, I suggest you find your angst playlist, hit shuffle, and start playing some sad tunes. Personally, I listened to “Honest” by The Neighbourhood _a lot_ , but the choice is yours.
> 
> This piece is not intended to be shippy, but take it as you will.

The revelation bears heavier consequences than Keith could ever have anticipated. Not that he could possibly have been equipped to anticipate this - his one clue, the blade, had only ever spurred more questions, questions he never had answers for.

Now, the world - no, the whole universe - is falling apart around him. _Galra blood._ He is everything they, the Paladins of Voltron, have sworn to destroy. He carries the blood of their enemies in his own veins, a fact the others cannot come to terms with.

Shiro asks _how did you not know this?_ Keith does not have an answer for him. He knows Shiro is worried but the question sounds accusatory. _Why_ didn’t _you know about this, Keith? Don’t you know who you are?_

Allura asks no questions at all, and it is worse. Keith sees the hatred in her eyes, sees the betrayal in the clench of her fists by her side, sees the distrust in the way she turns from him, just a step back, just enough to show him how ready she is to distance herself from him.

Coran does not sport his emotions so clearly like Allura, but Keith knows he shares the same fear as her. _Can we trust him now that he’s Galra?_ As if Keith has ever been anything but. Coran is wiser than she, but his own Altean heritage and his grief for his people color his opinions. Keith is not _one of them_.

Hunk and Pidge are ever curious, but their ambivalence turns their queries insensitive and thoughtless. _Is this quirk normal for_ your kind? _You sure there isn’t a_ purple spot _somewhere on your body?_ I’ve _never noticed your teeth being any pointier than_ ours. Suddenly, there is ‘us’ and 'them’, and Keith is an outsider.

Lance says nothing, only looks away from Keith, seeking out the reactions of others. Keith does not know this, but Lance is no longer interested in watching Keith’s face. It is more important to him that he observe the rest, and what he sees concerns him.

Shiro quickly affirms that Keith is still a Paladin, and still a part of the team. He moves away from the topic, and on to more pressing ones. They have new Galra allies; the Blade of Marmora, and it is vital they collaborate on a plan to defeat Zarkon before time runs out for the rest of the universe. Always, there is something more important to attend to, and so the subject is left behind.

But, Keith feels a hole growing inside of him, and a yawning divide threatens to cut him away from the rest. The 'harmless’ questions do not stop. Allura’s cold attitude towards him does not stop. They try to act like nothing’s changed but they cannot suppress their curiosity, or their distrust.

They have a plan, and have already taken great strides towards making it happen. Keith maintains his aloof demeanor, but it only disguises the hurt he feels. He thinks he does not have a right to be upset, and tries to tell himself that their reactions are only natural; what did he expect?

He is so wrapped up in these things, he does not realize there is one among them who has yet to so much as address the root of the problem. Lance has grown more and more alarmed by the others’ reactions and concerned for Keith’s lack of one, and he suspects something is close to the breaking point.

“Keith,”

The voice catches him off guard, not because of its suddenness, but because of its softness. Keith turns slowly to face its owner, quickly recomposing himself.

“What?”

The snapped response was braced for. Lance knew from the moment he decided to approach the other, he would need to be ready for the backlash. He breathes out, reminding himself not to take Keith’s acid tone so seriously.

“Hey man; no need to bite me like that,”

Lance surprises him more when he does not rise to the challenge. His hands are up in a conciliatory manner, and his words are spoken quietly and carefully. He is saying, _I am not a threat._ Keith reigns in his frustration, for the time being.

“Okay. I’m… sorry. What is it?”

Apologies are rare for Keith, so Lance takes this both as a good sign to keep going, and as a warning that something is seriously wrong. Normally, he would have teased Keith for being out of character. Normally, teasing him was harmless. This was not a normal time.

“I just want to talk about, uh, recent stuff. With you. Please, just hear me out okay?”

Despite Lance’s plea, Keith tenses. He knows what Lance is referring to, but he is not certain what Lance actually wants to say about it. Come to think of it, Lance has so far had no commentary at all on the subject. Keith stays quiet, if only to satisfy his curiosity.

“Don’t waste my time.”

Lance swallows, and gives the other a weak smile. Not that he thinks this will make Keith feel any more relaxed, but it is simply a force of habit. Smiling, no matter the turmoil of emotions inside of him, always quelled the worries of others. He cannot help it any more than Keith can help but scowl at everything.

“Alright alright; where to start… Ok. First of all, I know you’re pretty upset right now, so I don’t wanna make that worse. I want to make it better, y'know… since we’re a team and everything. It’s important.”

More surprises. Keith stares at him, dumbfounded now. If someone had told him Lance would openly admit to wanting to help him, Keith would not even have laughed. It was just too unbelievable. Still, he senses no dishonesty in Lance’s words, so does little more than quirk an eyebrow as if to say, _is that so?_

“I know; doesn’t sound much like me, does it? Look. I’m not two dimensional, but hey; this isn’t about me right now. It’s about you. So maybe, uh, talk about it? Get it off your chest; whatever it is. I’ll just listen.”

This time, Keith does feel inclined to say something. Lance is acting strangely, speaking like a stranger. This is a Lance Keith does not know, and is not sure if he trusts. He presses his lips tight together before opening his mouth to speak.

“You _really_ want to know how _I_ feel? I’m not sure I’m actually talking to Lance right now.”

The words sting, and Lance winces, though he tries to smile good-naturedly instead. He is fully aware of how he must come off to others; always going on about everything and nothing. Mostly, he talks about himself, and he must appear self-centered to others. Refocusing, Lance suppresses the doubt, and defends himself.

“Hey man; that hurts y'know? And like I said; we’re not talking about me. Tell me how you feel right now. I want to know. I want to help.”

It is a familiar feeling for Keith, but he is losing control of his emotions harder and faster than ever before. His insides unwind while his muscles tense; his eyes narrow while his teeth bare; he is an implosion happening in a single and contained moment.

“It isn’t _fair!_ I know I don’t always do things right, but for once I didn’t do anything wrong, so why? What is so _difficult_ about this for everyone else? Can’t anyone see how hard this is on _me?_ ”

The outburst is instantaneous, but the seconds leading up to it pass in what feels like slow motion to Lance. Now, Keith is howling like a wolf at the moon and the hurt cracks his voice; each breaking word causing goosebumps to rise on the skin of Lance’s arms and the back of his neck. He thought he had seen Keith’s raw emotions flare up before, but this inferno makes those incidents in the past seem more like the striking of a match than anything else.

“Keith, buddy; easy there… yeah, I know; I see it. I can see it. I know.”

The world grows blurry and indistinct to Keith, and heat rises in his eyes. When was the last time he cried like this? Cried at all? Angry, he claws the tears away from his face, scrubs at his eye sockets with the backs of his sleeves. Lance is saying what he has wanted to hear this entire time, but it is harder to deal with than it should be. Keith wants to believe him so bad, but it is hard, and there is more still he wants to say.

“I-it’s not like I _knew_ about it! It’s not like I deliberately held this from you guys; I just; I-I didn’t _know_ , okay? I’m just as confused, a-and as scared as everyone else is. Look, it’s just- I mean, after everything I’ve done up to this point? Doesn’t that _matter_ to them? To… to Allura?”

Never before has Lance once thought Keith might fall apart like this, but watching it now is breaking his heart. Keith, always so sure-footed and confident. Keith, never doubting his instincts or convictions. Keith, coming apart at the seams as though brittle. Lance wants to reach out to keep the fragments from shattering more but he knows better than to approach without an invitation. It is the injured animal that warrants the most caution.

“I know, I get it. Like… I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around it too - about _their_ reaction, I mean. You’re still Keith, you’re still the Red Paladin, and you’re still the literal right hand of Voltron. Without you, we would all be dead. Like, that’s a fact.”

The anger is exhausting Keith. He trembles, feels weak and his head spins; a vortex of mixed-up thoughts and contradictory emotions. Lance is giving him this soft, worried look, something he normally reserves for his friends. His friends. A twinge in his stomach reminds Keith that, in so many ways, he is separate and alone. Isolated. Alienated. The irony of that word makes bitterness rise in him, and he clenches his jaw.

“To be honest, Keith, I wasn’t that surprised. Not, like; I mean I didn’t _know_ what exactly it was that was coming, but I kind of pieced it together after the fact.”

The change in the conversation draws Keith away from the misery, just a little bit. By now, he knows better than to try and guess at where Lance is going with this. He stares at a point just beyond Lance’s wrist; a gaze tipped slightly down and to the left. He hopes the lack of eye contact does not bother the other, but then again, Lance has so far made no comment on it.

“You’ve sort of been… well, leading up to this. I think you knew _something_ was up. Just, not exactly what it was. But you knew it was related to the Galra. You’ve sort of been trying to break in the idea that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the Galra, exactly. I guess you couldn’t have known how personal that would become, though.”

It shocks Keith how much more perceptive Lance really is, compared to how he often views the other. He thinks back to the past few weeks, starting from their meeting with Ulaz and how that had caused him to start rethinking his own identity. All along, Lance has been paying attention.

“You’re going to have to be… more specific…”

The fact that Keith is not fighting him on this relieves Lance, for he was not sure how well Keith would take this approach to the subject. It could be that he is only tired, tired of arguing, but whatever the case, Lance know he cannot stop now. He plunges on.

“To begin with, right after we got back from heroically saving the Olcari people and like, Pidge was talking about being more connected with his Lion or whatever, you said something along the lines of 'we aren’t so different from the Galra’. Or something like that. Being connected with stars and stuff.”

The memory of that moment is sour for Keith, but nevertheless he is impressed Lance even remembers it happened at all. Lance’s expression is serious now, instead of humored like before. How different he looks, Keith thinks.

“You guys laughed at me for that. Again.”

The reprimand is probably deserved, so Lance tries to smile apologetically instead of arguing. He feels acutely ashamed, and that is likely appropriate as well. Still, he presses forward, because what he needs to say is more important than his own guilt, for the moment.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Hindsight is 20/20, like they say. Uh, moving on. You also advocated for our potential Galra allies. You repeatedly tried to make the point that not all Galra were evil, like Zarkon and his cronies. So like, you knew pushing this opinion might be important later on.”

Heart pounding, Keith wraps his arms around himself and nods. Somehow, Lance noticed all of these things and put them together, and Keith is unused to feeling understood. It only makes the pain of injustice worse; of all the people on this forsaken ship, it is Lance who nails it on the head.

“Yeah, for all the good that did me. You weren’t there, but when Allura and I left for that experiment, I tried to talk to her directly about it. I’m sure you can guess how well that went. It was like talking to a brick wall. All you get is solid resistance, and you can’t even see what’s on the other side.”

Frowning, Lance now searches for the words to comfort Keith with. The problem is laid bare and it is an ugly truth, but Lance refuses to let it stay that way. He has one last point to make, and he hopes it will serve as a bridge between the two of them. It is about time Keith stops feeling disconnected.

“I’m not giving up the fight just yet, Keith. You can prove her wrong. I mean, I think you already have, all things considered. That aside though, I just want to say that I know what you’re feeling right now. I know what you’re going through, from personal experience.”

This statement confuses Keith, causes him to look directly at Lance for the first time as he tries to read the other’s expression. The idea that they should have anything in common is strange, but the implication that Keith is not as isolated by his experience is also of some consolation to him.

“Tell me.”

Lance takes a deep breath. Keith is giving him his full attention now, and it unnerves Lance somewhat. There is nothing more raw and unflinching than fire, that which Keith embodies somehow in the form of flesh and soul. However, Lance does not dare take his eyes off of him.

“I know what it’s like to be judged based on something you can’t control, something you were born with. It’s called racism. I’m just a boy from Cuba, y'know? It’s not… _exactly_ the same, I know. But it’s like, you gotta work twice as hard as everyone else - everyone white - just be seen as an equal. You have to obtain these ridiculously high standards, just to prove you don’t match the stereotype. And what’s up with that anyway? Stereotypes are so whack; generalizing an entire people because of personal prejudice… sorry; that’s a tangent isn’t it? Am I making sense or am I losing you here? I don’t wanna, like… run on…”

Only, Keith is just staring at him. Lance, making an effort to help him feel better. Lance, trying to make connections with him. Lance, finally reaching out to _him._ A bonding moment. Words that say _“we are the same, you are not separate”._ Pulling Keith back in, closer. Lance, tearing down barriers. Mending the division between “Keith” and “everyone else”. Keith belongs here; he is not an outsider. He belongs.

“Keith? Buddy?”

Suddenly, quick exchanges.

“Yeah, Lance. I understand you.”

“You gonna be alright?”

“I will.”

“You sure?”

“Stay by me.”

“Of course. You’re not alone.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

>  _[Keith Asks The Red Lion For Comfort](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9787289)_ is a sequel to this piece, and is part of _[The Wisdom of the Lions](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/The_Wisdom_of_the_Lions)_ collection. Check out _[Lance Asks The Blue Lion About Himself](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9561215)_ for some really good Lance content, written by my brother; he is the inspiration behind both this piece and _The Wisdom of the Lions_ collection.
> 
> I think this is true for many people, but I found myself very dissatisfied with many of the things that went down in season 2, and one of those things was how the reveal for Keith’s Galra identity was not just skimmed over, but skipped altogether. Allura is reasonably upset and (as an example) Hunk is curious (if not insensitive with his comments), yet we don’t see anyone else’s reactions, and I find that… difficult to deal with. I’m also not that pleased with Keith’s lack of a reaction to how Allura treats him now, because I don’t see why that wouldn’t hurt him in some way or other. Why is he so complacent? It doesn’t feel true to his character. He’s practically ruled by his emotions, and leading up to the reveal he continually tried to press for a less generalized hatred of all Galra, yet after it comes out he stops fighting for it.
> 
> So, just my take on it I guess. I can’t see if it’s necessarily in character for them, but think of this piece as something for me to express my thoughts and frustrations through. This is also not intended to be shippy; I just see Lance being the most likely to speak out and reach out. Well, take it how you will.
> 
> I also experimented a lot with writing style and the approach to the narrative, so I expect it won’t read like anything you might be familiar with. I don’t typically write in present tense (tbh I NEVER do it) and normally I put a huge focus on the visual part of the writing ( _Autumn Wander_ is a great example of that), so writing this piece was an interesting experience for me.


End file.
